Thieves steal food, kitchen appliances from church’s food pantry

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Authorities are searching for thieves who broke into an Central Indiana church’s food pantry and stole thousands of dollars in food and kitchen appliances.

The North 27 Worship Center on Highway 27 North in Richmond, Ind., supplies food to about a dozen food pantries in Wayne County and feeds hundreds of people on a weekly basis. It was broken into last week.

Pastor Robert Johnson showed Fox 59 how thieves destroyed the pantry and left little behind.

“You can see where they’ve cut the lines,” he said as he pointed to where a brand new air conditioning unit used to sit. “[We] had not had a chance to enjoy it yet.”

Besides that, he said thieves broke through a side door and stole about $500 worth of food meant for the hungry. What they didn’t take was left out and had spoiled by the time anyone got to the church.

“There was a refrigerator that sat right here and the food that they didn’t want they threw out on the floor,” he explained.

The thieves also grabbed thousands of dollars in kitchen appliances including crock pots, coffee makers and microwaves.

“I just feel like I’ve been violated,” said Johnson.

Johnson has since installed a security system and is even thinking about adding cameras outside of the building. He told Fox59 no arrests have been made yet.

While he still doesn’t understand how anyone could have stolen from a church, he does believe good will prevail over evil and his flock will pick up the pieces for the sake of the community.

“We’re undaunted, we’re gonna continue on. I mean God and people will give and we will make a comeback on this,” he said. “It’s just a frustrating time.”

If you would like to help the church and its ‘Project Feed Wayne County’ program, you can make a donation by contacting Pastor Robert Johnson at bishop1948@comcast.net or e-mailing Lsjohnson@Comcast.net or by calling (765) 960-5900.